Improvement in eatohet-head and levee



gleiten 'listes' ste-nt @ffice part of this -specieatioin T. .,A. WESTON7V or BUFFALO., -NEW Your.

Leegte Patent No. 75,0s9, @zaad Marat 3, 1868;

IMPROVEMENT IN RATGHET-HEAD AND LEVER.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Beit known that I, T. A. WESTON, of the city of Buffalo, in the county of Erie, and State of'New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Ratchet-Levers or Heads; andl I do hereby-declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying'drawings lmaking Figure I isa plan of the head of my improved'ratchet-lever, the pawl-disk being in sectiun ofplanea: x, fig. 2.

Figure'fZ, a vertical section in planer/y, iig. 1.

' Like letters of reference designate corresponding parts in both figures.

The object of my invention is to dispense with fine teeth in the ratchet, which are rapdlyworn'awaL-and to substitute an arrangement which is enduring, and which will produce-as nice and. accurate an adjustment as the fine teeth. i

As represented, A is the head of the lever, which is shown broken olf. Thisihead is made hollow,`and has cut upon its inner periphery, at regular distances apart,la series of teeth, e c, with inclined planes on one side and abrupt shoulders on the other, as usual. I prefer to make the shoulders obtuse-angled, as 'sustaining the greater wear, and as being more particularly adapted to the pawls hereafter described, but, if desired, right or other angled shouldersmay be employed. Within the hollow head of the lever is fitted a pawl-dsk, B', held in place in any suitable manner. This disk has an eye, a, of square or other form, which will receive and hold the article to be turned. It also has pawls or' sliding bolts c c, fitting in suitable sockets of the disk, which pawls are forced out'or p'rctruded to engage with the4 teeth before described by spririg's d d. I:Che ends of the pawls are preferably rounded so-as to work easily over.A the teeth.` In the drawings thc pawls are shown as arranged ou opposite sides, at right angles to each other, in` order to t the obtuse shoulders of the teeth, but their position. may be modified to any form of the teeth. The relative .numberof the pawls and the teeth is unequal, that is, the pawls are one less or ono more in number than the teeth, preferably one less. In the drawings four pawls and live teeth are shown.

The operation wjill be readily understood. As each pawl ascends the inclinedv side of a tooth, it falls behind the shoulder of 'thesame, and holds the pawl-disk to the lever while the latter is turned; but all of the teeth do not engage simultaneously, but rather in succession; that is, while .each pa-wl is passing over the length of one tooth, all of the other pawls. have successively engaged and perform-ed their action. As the number of pawls and teeth may be considerable without injuriously reducing them in-size, it is apparent ata glance that an equal number of adj ustments and movements of the lever may be attained as would be attained were a greater number of tino teeth with a single pawl or catch. used, while the wear and the strength arevastly increased.

The great advantage of this-arrangement thus consists in substituting for a greatlnumber of small teeth witha single pawl, which soon wear so as to 1De uselessfand vwhich insure but little power, an arrangement of large teeth and pawls, which produce the same nice degree of adjustment, but still insure agreat power, and cannot soon wear out. The unequal relative number of thepteeth and pawls insures this result. i

It is obvious that this combination of the teeth and pawls can be applied to almost any arrangement of ratchet-levers or heads. I show but one form, b ut do not coniinemyseli' to it.' The flat form ot" the ratchethead shown in the drawings enables the same to be applied :in narrow spaces for turning, where other forms could not be applied. l

I claim the ratchet-lever head, when constructed with teeth 'c c e c eand pawls c c c c,comb ined, arranged, and operating substantially as and for the purposes shown and described. I i

l In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. f I

T. A.- WESTON.

Witnesses:

JAY HYATT, ALBERT HAIGHT. 

